Can't a Person Just Peacefully Grind Quests?

Looking at the Herta Space Station now back in view, Welt sighed helplessly as he glanced at the young man who couldn't hide the smile on his face, then said softly, "I hope there aren't any mistakes in your script, otherwise, your chances of joining the Express crew will be very slim."

"We care more about that child's safety than you do. For example, do you think Himeko would just stand by and watch Kiana die?"

"That's not a good example, Emiya."

"What if I was planning to bring up that topic?"

Emiya smiled mysteriously and spoke softly, "You know, inside the Herta Space Station, there are some 'Cosmic Curios' that are just for display? And as far as I know, one of those curios, though only a few shattered fragments remain, still naturally assembles itself into the shape of a 'sword,' and sometimes a person's voice comes from it."

"She was reborn from fire, and she smiled in the fire."

Chapter 005: An Old Timer Like Me Can Only Be a Fan of K-ON! (1/4)

"Uncle Yang, where did you go just now? You have no idea how dangerous it was back there—I almost died at the hands of that big monster."

"Thank goodness Dan Heng and Sister Himeko had my back, otherwise, Uncle Yang, you wouldn't be seeing me anymore."

"But, come to think of it, I really showed off my skills this time, right, Stelle?"

Just as they returned to the station platform and before entering the train, the little pink-haired girl, who seemed to have just finished a big battle, spotted Welt and eagerly rushed over, her little mouth chattering nonstop. She seemed to want some comfort, but more than that, she probably wanted the old man to praise her.

The Express crew had long since figured out this girl's personality inside and out. Dealing with such a simple-minded young girl was second nature to Teacher Yang, who had once served at St. Freya Academy.

"You and Dan Heng have both grown, March 7th. Next Trailblaze Journey, maybe I'll suggest to Himeko that you two go solo."

"Yay?—!"

After cheering for a bit, Little Pink Hair belatedly noticed the 'Defense Department staff member' following behind Old Yang, and her expression immediately turned tense.

"Uncle Yang, Asta told us there's no staff member named Emiya in the Space Station Defense Department. This guy's identity is suspicious."

"Yeah, it is suspicious. I hope you'll notice it sooner next time."

With that, Old Yang looked toward Himeko and Stelle, who had just stepped off the train, and walked straight over. Before he could speak, the little grey-haired girl beside Himeko had already rushed in front of Emiya, her brilliant golden eyes fixed on him.

"Do you remember me, Ah Xing?"

"Pizza."

"Huh?"

"If there's pizza, I might remember."

"You little brat, you're faking amnesia, aren't you? Did Kafka water down your Meng Po's Soup?"

Ruffling the little grey-haired girl's head, Emiya breathed a quiet sigh of relief. If she had truly forgotten him completely, he would have been heartbroken. After all, he had been the one taking care of her all this time—not quite raising her like a daughter, but at least like a little sister. In terms of mental age, she was even younger than the big little sister back home in Fuyuki City.

"It seems you're quite close to this child."

With graceful steps, the Navigator, perfectly embodying the intellectual elegance of a mature woman, also approached Emiya. Her beautiful eyes studied him for a moment before she spoke softly, "Welt says you want to join the Express crew. Setting aside your past actions and stance for now, as the Navigator of the Astral Express, I want an answer. Do you have a real 'reason' for wanting to board the train?"

"Naturally, I do."

Emiya smiled. Setting aside the fact that this group was the protagonist team, the main point was that traveling aboard the Astral Express would give him more freedom. Plus, the atmosphere on the Express was more relaxed—no ruthless capitalists like Alaya or Gaia, and no workaholic boss like Acheron who packed your schedule to the brim.

If he compared the Type-Moon homeland to MyGO!!!, then the Stellaron Hunters' atmosphere was at least Love Live! level. But the Express crew was different—the daily vibe there dropped straight down to K-ON! level.

For an old-timer like him, he was better suited to being a fan of After School Tea Time. If he had a choice, who wouldn't want to lie around in the clubroom every day eating cake and drinking tea?

"Actually, I lied about one thing. I'm not from Mr. Welt's homeland. My homeland is also called 'Earth,' and while it hasn't experienced the 'Honkai' like Mr. Welt's world, my planet is indeed heading toward its final end."

"Mr. Welt's homeland had a Divine Key called 'Thousand Realms Shattered,' used for 'Parallel World Observation.' I also observed some possibilities of 'the end' through similar means. My general guess is that it's related to the 'Planet's Will.' The planet's will, which I call 'Gaia,' seems to be dying. After its death, the strongest lifeforms from planets beyond Earth will receive the dying planet's final message and descend."

"They are called UO—Ultimate Ones. Their power level might reach the realm of 'Emanators.'"

"So, if I can't solve the planet's will's impending death, my planet will likely face at least three, or even up to seven, monsters infinitely close to the 'Emanator' level invading."

Steel Earth, Moon of Coral, Star Hunting, Mechanical God Group...

The Type-Moon corner might not be big, but the various parallel worlds sure had a lot of trouble. Over in Fate/Grand Order, besides an arson-happy Old Gai, there was also a mad magician who thought the Human Order wasn't fit to rule and wanted to replace it. It wasn't surprising that endings like Steel Earth or Moon of Coral would pop up.

"Strictly speaking, even if my planet is destroyed, I can still leave my original world like this and wander the universe."

"But... since nothing is set in stone yet, I still have some chance to save my homeland. So, I guess I want to give it a shot."

"Traveling with the Express will let me fully utilize my 'talents' and grow stronger faster."

"On the other hand, I also want to keep accompanying this little grey-haired girl."

Pressing down on the little grey-haired girl's fluffy hair, Mr. Emiya chuckled and continued, "I'm an older brother. This little grey-haired girl is practically my second adopted little sister. Kafka wiped a lot of her memories and sent her onto the Express. I understand why they did it, but... in a new environment where she doesn't know anyone, having a familiar face around will help her feel a bit more at ease."

When Emiya spoke those last words, the Navigator's face broke into a approving smile.

"Welcome to the Express, Emiya."

"Honored to be here."

[Your commission "Off-Screen Job" has been completed]

[You have received 540 points + limited random up pool unlocked]

[Hunter x Hunter collaboration banner limited-time open. SSR "Crimson Eye (Kurapika)", SR "Master of Stealth (Chrollo)", SR "Nen: Hundred-Type Guanyin (Netero)" limited draw rewards will be obtained directly after 50, 100, and 300 draws.]

[Your commission "Join the Star Rail" has been completed.]

[You have received 420 points + a choice of Express crew member banner.]

[Welt limited banner limited-time open. SSR "Core of Reason (Ascended Version)", SR "Star of Eden", SR "Father Mech" limited draw rewards will be obtained directly after 100, 300, and 5000 draws.]

Chapter 006: If Rich, Rheinmetall; If Poor, Laiyang Steel Pipe! (2/4)

Shirou Emiya was a transmigrator.

Of course, what this means isn't that he ran from Type-Moon's little corner of the world out into this cosmic starry sky.

Besides, those two worlds were already set up for collaboration anyway, so they might as well exist in the same universe.

But for Shirou Emiya right now, neither Type-Moon nor Star Rail was actually his original world. He couldn't be bothered to think too deeply about high-dimensional worlds or the real world. Escaping from his original endless, passionless mechanical life was all that mattered to him.

As a transmigrator, Mr. Emiya had also been kindly gifted a very thoughtful "present"—described in simpler terms, a "Golden Finger."

A system with an extremely simple framework.

Currently, it only had two functions.

First, mission commissions.

Second, draw banners.

Though the framework was crude and straightforward, its functionality couldn't be underestimated. The banners available ranged from Old Mi's own game worlds to other games, anime, and even tokusatsu works.

Mr. Emiya hadn't yet figured out the upper limit of commission tiers, but starting from three-star commissions, banners had a chance to include "banners" from worlds outside the current one.

From character traits and skills to local specialties of those worlds.

From the M1917 Smith & Wesson to the Thompson Wave Motion, and even to Love Train and Beyond Heaven, the collaboration banners always threw out some ridiculously overpowered stuff out of nowhere.

The sad part, though, was that commission rewards didn't give many points. A single ten-pull usually required over a dozen one-star commissions, and two- or three-star commissions were hard to come by for months at a time.

Before arriving in this cosmic starry sky, Mr. Emiya's Type-Moon hometown was a disaster zone for commission refreshes. Misaki City had no Tohno family commissions, Tokyo had no Saiki family ones, and even Fuyuki City's original Three Families had been replaced by the Einzberns. Without connections, a wild magus couldn't squeeze into the Clock Tower either.

After all that, aside from a chance encounter with the troublesome sisters of the Aozaki family, he hadn't snagged commissions from Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, or the Silver Age settings. He'd even nearly caught the attention of a True Ancestor. With his weak arms and legs back then, if he'd actually fought a True Ancestor, he could only bully filler like Roa. The Black Princess, White Princess, or Black and White Lords were way out of his league.

It was thanks to that one commission with the Aozaki sisters that Mr. Emiya had a rare stroke of luck and drew the "Aurora Curtain" ability. Though the Aurora Curtain was standard equipment in the Great Shocker Organization, what he'd drawn was a "Tsukasa Kadoya" special edition. Not only was it bound to him and unstealable, but it also came with a one-click registration feature for landing in any new setting, giving him an initial identity.

That was how he'd joined the Stellaron Hunters. Acheron had scratched his head trying to figure out how he'd dragged this slacker into the organization.

"The Hunter banner and Welt's banner are done, and Silver Wolf and Sam's banners just ended too..."

Mr. Emiya first looked at the Hunter banner's "Nen: Hundred-Type Guanyin," "Master of Stealth," and "Crimson Eye." While they were decent abilities, their versatility was basically locked in place.

"Master of Stealth" wouldn't mean much even if he got it. As for Netero's Nen ability, it had some special effects value, but for someone who'd already gotten Silver Wolf's "Aether Editing" ability, it wasn't worth much. He could now edit himself a Susanoo-wearing-Buddha special effect on the spot without much trouble.

The only decent one, "Crimson Eye," was a Kurapika special edition. In other words, it could unlock a Specialist-type Nen ability, letting him use all categories like Kurapika. But for Mr. Emiya, its value was limited.

If anything, some of the R cards in the banner gave him ideas.

"Capacity Boost," "Four Major Principles," "Nen Activation," "Enhancement-Type Bias Boost," "Transmutation-Type Bias Boost"...

"The most unpretentious things are the most valuable..."

As the saying goes, if rich, Rheinmetall; if poor, Laiyang Steel Pipe.

It wasn't that Netero's Nen ability wasn't flashy enough—it was that developing his own Nen ability was more cost-effective.

Abilities like Silver Wolf's "Aether Editing" were unique talents of the people on that planet, one of a kind across the entire universe.

Basic rewards like physique were actually the most cost-effective products in many banners.

In the Jujutsu Kaisen world, people with Cursed Energy who could develop it were rare, and those who could awaken a Cursed Technique on top of that were one in ten thousand.

Setting aside such rare cases, take the mainstream shonen. In One Piece, everyone had no limiter like a low-budget Saitama. Mindless training had no limit, and after replenishing nutrition, their bodies recovered like they were immortal. Especially someone like Koby, who claimed to work three hundred times harder and could still catch up to the protagonist group, monsters who'd been cheating for hundreds of episodes.

Then there were the ninjas in Naruto. Ignoring Chakra, just the average 130 trillion cells per person as a foundation gave them the basic aptitude to extract Chakra. For Sage Bodies like the Uzumaki or Senju, the upper limit of quantity was hard to estimate. Going further up, there were the Otsutsuki and their true main family. None of them could even be called human anymore—they were basically cosmic monsters in human skin.

"If I draw 'Capacity Boost' and 'Nen Activation,' I can stop. The other biases can be edited directly with Silver Wolf's 'Aether Editing.'"

Aether Editing was a very useful ability. While creating something from nothing was impossible, modifying existing things was practically a divine skill.

With Aether Editing, Mr. Emiya could even modify his own Origin, from "Origin of the Sword" to "Origin of All Cold Weapons." But then, the purity of Unlimited Blade Works would drop a lot.

"I've still got 6000 left. All-in on Welt's banner. If I can pull the 'Core of Reason,' combined with Projection Magecraft and Origin-based mana reduction, I could wholesale hundreds of Excaliburs."

"But before drawing, I should stack some luck buffs."

Mr. Emiya's gaze silently shifted toward the Herta Space Station outside the train. More precisely, toward the Curiosity Collection Room inside the station. Other things didn't matter, but there was Himeko's half of the Sword of Fallen Gods there. The other half was with Kiana.

Kiana had half the Sword of Fallen Gods. If he also had half, then he was equal to Kiana!

And as everyone knew, Crumbs had the absurd luck of single-pull golds and single-pull grand prizes.

In that case...

This overwhelming luck, he could also leech off!

Chapter 007: A Mature Ship's Guardian Knows How to Feed Themselves Knives. (3/4)

"The Curiosity Collection Room? That's Ms. Herta's private collection room. Without Ms. Herta's permission, entry is generally prohibited."

On the main pier of the space station, Asta looked at the Express crew members, paused briefly, and then spoke again.

"However, the Express crew can be considered benefactors of the space station. Since it's your request, I can grant you permission to tour the premises."

"But please be aware that ownership of all Cosmic Curios belongs unconditionally to Ms. Herta. Even Supervisor Level Staff need Foundation Level Staff to stamp approval before researching a Curio... So, please refrain from any actions unrelated to browsing."

To be honest, as the station master, Asta was grateful that these Express members had stepped in during the space station's critical moment. But when it came to matters involving Ms. Herta, a member of the Genius Society, she truly couldn't act on her own authority. If that Ms. Herta ever became displeased with her, all the investment poured into this space station over the years could vanish in an instant.

She had been walking on thin ice all these years, never knowing when she might truly earn the recognition of that Ms. Herta.

"To be frank, we do have a clear objective in heading to the Exhibition Room."

Welt spoke to Asta in a low voice, "There should be a Cosmic Curio in the Collection Room that may be connected to someone from my homeland. Back then, she exhausted everything to use equipment beyond her capacity, ultimately falling into the Imaginary Space. Later, some of us tried to search for her traces, but in the end... only a broken sword was recovered. The remaining half of that sword seems to be inside the space station."

"A broken sword? Is it Number 293?"

Asta thought for a moment before recalling the Curio Welt mentioned. The Curios in Herta Space Station weren't fixed permanently; some came from other Genius Society members or even the IPC, on loan or temporary transfer. The Curios permanently housed in the station numbered fewer than a hundred, and among them, only one matched the shape of a "broken sword."

"Since that's your target, I'll take you to see it directly. If you confirm that Curio truly is a relic of someone from your homeland, then... to reclaim it, you'll have to negotiate directly with Ms. Herta."

"Thank you."

Welt nodded. His relationship with Himeko wasn't exactly close, but they had once been colleagues. Moreover, during the Herrscher of the Void incident, if Himeko hadn't stepped forward to bring Kiana back, everything that followed might never have unfolded as it did.

Without Kiana as the Herrscher of the End standing on humanity's side, they could never have opposed Demon Kevin. Once Kevin returned from the Sea of Quantum, the Stigmata Project would officially commence, and human civilization would be reduced to nothing under its unfolding.

So, whether to reclaim Himeko's relic or—according to someone's words—for the faint, almost negligible possibility of awakening her again, if that half of the Sword of Fallen Gods truly existed in Herta Space Station, he would spare no effort to retrieve it.